Donovan Webster (1959–2018)

We all know that war happens and assume that when one is over, that's it. Life goes back to normal. Webster shows that this is definitely not the case--not with any war. He begins with WWI then each subsequent chapter moves on to the next war, ending with the Gulf War. (The final chapter is a description of the chemical weapons destruction facility in Tooele, Utah.) In each chapter, Webster visits a country that was involved in the war (France--WWI, Russia--WWII, Vietnam--Vietnam War, Kuwait--Gulf War) and describes what is left behind. The aftermath includes unexploded bombs, live land mines, and chemical agents in the bloodstream of agent orange victims. All will take time to clean up and there are many lives lost in the process of doing just that. "There is no such thing as a good war and there is no such thing as a bad peace." Ben Franklin… (more)

Although somewhat dated, this was an interesting look at what is left on the battlefield--sometimes years, decades, or centuries--after war subsides. The first chapter considers the battlefields of World War I in France--Verdun, the Somme, the Marne--through the work of the demineurs who in the areas designated as the Red Zone seek to disarm unexploded shells and ordnance, of which there remained vast quantities at the time this book was written 90 years after the war's end. It was estimated that after the war nearly 12 million unexploded shells remained near Verdun, with more near the Somme and the Marne, and millions more on the beaches of Normandy and Brittany. It was not until 1946, after World War II, that France began systematic efforts to clear the explosives. Between 1946 and 1996 when this book was written more than 630 demineurs had died in the line of duty. And even at the time the book was written innocent civilians were still losing their lives to encounters with the unexploded detritus of war; for example, 36 farmers died in 1991 in France when their machinery hit unexploded shells.

The second chapter considers World War II, and the battlefields around Stalingrad, where many died of starvation or froze to death, in addition to battlefield casualties. As of the time the book was written, the bones of many dead (primarily) Germans littered the fields around Stalingrad.

I found the third chapter less interesting. It involved a visit to the Nevada Test Site, where nuclear weapons were exploded above-ground from 1951-1963. What's left behind is invisible: radiation and the cancers it causes. I've read several more recent books on the subject of nuclear waste and radiation, so while the descriptions of the eeriness of the site was impressive, the chapter did not offer me new information.

The fourth chapter involved a visit to Vietnam, where the war had ended only 20 years before this book was published. I lived through this war vicariously on the Nightly News with Walter Cronkite so the names were familiar. One of the most horrifying "aftermaths" the author describes in this chapter was, surprisingly, a visit to a maternity hospital, where in a room full of fetuses preserved in formaldehyde the effects of the Agent Orange the US rained down on Vietnam's jungles and fields are in full view.

The next chapter involved a visit to Kuwait by the author just a few years after the end of the First Gulf War. It was estimated that 7 million land mines were sown in the sands of Kuwait by both sides. Just a few years after the end of this war in 1991, more than 2000 civilians had been killed by the mines that had been left behind, and "nearly as many coalition-nation citizens have perished clearing Kuwait's desert of mines and bombs (83) as Americans died in the fighting itself (103)." Today, land mines crowd the soil in more than 60 countries.

The final chapter was a visit to a storage depot for nerve gas weapons. As he leaves, the author thinks, "Behind me, the alarm sounds once more."

I found this a fascinating and riveting read. We all know the horrors of war, especially never-ending wars. But my eyes were opened by the horrors left behind. While mostly anecdotal, the author has a fine eye for detail, and his observations clear and on point. Only 2 complaints: I think the book would have been enhanced with a few pictures. And, I would like some updates.

Highly Recommended. 4 stars… (more)